TiO 2 /Bi 2 S 3 ball-and-stick structure heterojunction prepared on FTO glass as a photoanode for solar cells

One-dimensional titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) nanorods (NRs) array are grown on transparent conductive fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) glass substrate by the simple hydrothermal method. Bi 2 S 3 nanopatricles (NPs) are loaded in the TiO 2 /FTO by a hydrothermal deposition method to a novel ball-and-stick heterostructure for enhancing the photoelectrochemical (PEC) properties. The structures, morphologies and optical properties of the prepared films are characterized by XRD, FESEM, TEM and UV–Vis spectrometer. The photoelectrochemical properties of the composite films are studied. The results show that all of the obtained TiO 2 films are monocrystalline with a rutile structure and grow along the c axis direction. Bi 2 S 3 nanoparticles are successfully deposited on the top of the TiO 2 NRs, forming a Bi 2 S 3 /TiO 2 ball-and-stick structure heterojunction. The optical absorption edges of the prepared composite films are extended to the visible light range, and the absorption edges of the samples show an obvious redshift. The composite films exhibited better photoelectrochemical properties. The analysis of performance include linear voltammetry and transient photocurrent reveals that the photocurrent of Bi 2 S 3 /TiO 2 NRs is the photocurrent of pure TiO 2 NRs. All these results indicate the potential application of the novel TiO 2 NRs in solar cells.